last week we worked on our hot air balloon project. i'm not sure how we came up with it. hot air balloons are sighted here more on warm summer days, so maybe the reason was simply to make something reminding us that there are indeed warmer days ahead of us.

so as i explained already last week, we pasted newspaper strips to an actual balloon, using a homemade paste.homemade paste for paper maché:1 part flour5 parts watersome salt cook for about 7 minutes, medium heat, stirring continuouslyi put the balloon in a small bowl and fixed it with tape, so it was a lot easier to apply the strips of paper and also to paint it later. it was practical too because once we took it off the bowl, it already had the "opening" a hot air balloon needs.

this project is perfect for working on for several days. each step took about 15-30 minutes. that is the attention span that spencer has, he was pretty much "done" after 3/4 of each step, so i was glad that we could just put the project aside for a day or two. after the paper maché had dried, we painted it. when the paint was dry, we popped the balloon inside. it came off easily, and voilà: our balloon was almost done.

i punched holes into the "basket" (also made of paper maché) and into the balloon and we strung it together with yarn.

the playmobil children and their pets just love to fly off!

so, here is a quick step-by-step how-to:

blow up a balloon

tape balloon into a bowl

make homemade paste and tear newspaper strips

paste paper strips to the balloon

allow to dry for at least 24 hours (in the sun or infront of the heater)

paint balloon

allow paint to dry

pop the balloon

punch holes, and attach a basket (selfmade or storebought) to the balloon with some yarn

i strung a piece of yarn through the top of the balloon too in order to hang it up